When she began employment, the center says Ferry signed an agreement to refrain from working for a competing business within a 25-mile radius of the center for at least three years, according to the complaint filed Dec. 22 in Jefferson County District Court.

"Defendant, while working for plaintiff, was provided material, substantive benefits which made defendant as a medical professional more marketable in the field of her expertise," the suit states.

Less than one year after she began working for the center, however, Ferry quit her job on Dec. 18 to accept work at the University of Texas Medical Branch-Center of Weight Management, the complaint says.

Weight Loss, Cosmetic and Surgical Centers claims Ferry has breached the agreement because the UTMB Center of Weight Management is less than 25 miles away.